I like to study a lot of random things. I think that is how to glean a vision of the wider Universe. Everything is part of our Universe, so I don’t believe in taboo topics.
Every month or so I change my areas of study and lately I have focused on amazing fungi.
Most people have no idea about mushrooms and think that they carry no relevance, but the very fact that you are breathing and reading this is because of fungi.
The mushrooms that we see coming out of the ground are actually the fruit flowers in the life cycle. They shoot out millions of spores when the time is right. They are shot out with incredible force and velocity to spread as far as possible.
These spores are amazingly tough. When they land in a suitable place to grow, their network goes into the ground. This is called mycelium. When it gets dense enough, we may see a white milky patch. This network is one cell wall thick, but in my opinion this is the most amazing part of the cycle.
This network spreads out among acres. The largest life form on the planet is a fungal network which covers an incredible distance. I say this is the most amazing part because the network is in constant communication. It forms symbiosis with the local plant roots and ferries nutrients between them. That is why I say that you owe your every breath to them.
Fungi are also able to break down soil and not only communicate between different plants, but to draw nutrients from soil to roots. Their versatility cannot be understated. When this network needs to send out its spores and when the conditions are right, this is when the mushrooms sprout to shoot off more spores.
This site is called Earth Spore because I like to think of us humans as a swarm of spores on this flowering planet about to shoot off into space and spread our civilization. It seems very much up in the air, (pun intended) whether our flowering civilization will send its spores away or if none of these human spores will be able to escape.
In this case it would be another failed mushroom that will merely decay until a more suitable form arises. I vote for us spreading out! How about you?
They can survive the vacuum of space and it is conceivable that because they are so numerous, they could escape the Earth.
They would also be a perfect vehicle for spreading life throughout our solar system or beyond when we finally break the bonds of the planet.
Hi! Love the site. Just getting into mrohusom hunting and actually cultivation. I am LOVING it! So fun. I feel like a scientist with my glove box and jars.. haha I live down in the Ennis area. Give me a shot thru the email if you’re ever down this way after a rain! I’m headed out now, as it has just rained heavy the past few days here. wish me luckkkk!